Native American Memorial in Alabama

Thinking about this post was not too easy. How does one describe this place? Well, for starters, a friend of ours was talking to the boys about photography. The man showed them a picture of a “prayer circle” some place in Alabama and tried to describe the place to the boys. There really are no words to describe it, as I later found out. Also, I didn’t realize how close we are to it, thinking it was somewhere way down in Alabama.

Aunt Sue wanted to take a ride on the Natchez Trace. We had never been south before, so we went that way. Of course, a child or two had to go to the bathroom. As luck would have it, it was our day to be inconvenienced by the government, (Don’t get me started!) due to the sequester that our president said was “never going to happen” in a debate that I watched. The bathrooms on the Trace were closed on that day! So, we had to take an exit, which ended up having a nice little visitor center and the kind people told us about this memorial. We ventured south and found it.

The man who built this thing is Tom Hendrix. His grandmother was a Native American woman who was forced out of her homeland on the Trail of Tears. She walked back to her home and was the only one that they know did this. Mr. Hendrix was trying to get a stone in the wall for every step she took. He carried each rock 3 times; loading them on to his truck, unloading them at his home, and then putting them where they belong in the wall. As people have learned about this place, they send him rocks from all over the place. I could post pictures of nothing but rocks here, and Mr. Hendrix has a story for each one. He is a master story-teller and we were blessed that he was there.

Oh, the prayer circle was built according to Native American ways. He had a native come in and teach him. There are no electronic devices allowed in there. It was phenomenal!!! If you ever get a chance to go there, it would be time well spent. Mr. Hendrix has written a book about the history of his grandmother and their people called If the Legends Fade. I’m looking forward to reading it one day soon.